Interview With Bob
Sassone
Interview by Jenna Glatzer
Bob Sassone is a columnist for Ironminds.com and a contributor to
Salon, The Boston Herald, McSweeney's, and several other publications. He's
working on a novel, "Laughter and Money," which is about friendship,
career, pop culture, and the search for the perfect beer. Oh, and it's
also about laughter. And money.
What's your book (Book, With Words And Pages)
about?
It's about 100 pages long. HA! Oh, sorry, old joke. It's a
collection of my columns: humor essays, serious pieces, lists, etc. I
also have 2 short stories in there, and the first chapter of my upcoming novel.
What made you decide to go the self-publishing route?
Impatience. Plus I'm kind of a control freak. Bascially this is my
first book, and I didn't expect to have agents and publishers knocking down my
door to get it published, especially since it's a first book of humor, which is
a notoriously hard sell for a first-timer. Self-publishing it gives me
more control on the look, the distribution, gives me a bigger profit, etc.
Plus I'm doing some funky things, layout-wise, and doing it myself gives
me some freedom.
Why not use a Print-On-Demand company?
Well, I looked into all of them, and it seemed rather attractive at first, but
then I got to thinking: what's the REAL attraction to using POD? I
think if authors were honest, it's simply the fact that they'll have a
professional-looking "book" to show people. It can't be the fact
that it will be on bookstore shelves, because they aren't (the book stays on a
computer disk until someone orders them - bookstores don't automatically order
and carry POD titles, some don't like handling them at all, and it can take 6
plus weeks to order one from them). And it can't be for more money,
because they take a percentage, there are no advances, and you have to pay them
(some do it for free but with less options for layout). Since it's my
first book, I decided to go my own way, where I can control things more and do
something interesting. Getting something that "looks like a
book" doesn't interest me for this first collection.
You've done something unique with the printing of this
book. What is it, and how are you using it to your advantage?
Yes, it's sort of a bookazine - closer to a magazine than a book. Doing it
that way is not only cheaper and gives me more options with layout, length, etc,
it also makes it a little different, and I need that edge to get it talked about
a little bit. I think people will want to buy it because of what's inside,
not ignoring it just because it doesn't "look" like a book. I
like how McSweeney's and other quarterlies are magazines that look like books,
so I guess I'm twisting things around a bit. I'll print out a few hundred
at first and then see where it goes from there. I can always go into a
"second printing."
Did you save a lot of money doing it this way?
In the long run, definitely. Self-publishing a paperback or hardcover book
can cost anywhere from $1000 to $10,000, depending on the number of copies and
what you do. Since I've self-published magazines since 1990, this seemed
like a natural (and fun) way to go about it.
What steps are required to self-publish a book?
1.) Write a book.
2.) Try to figure out if this book is something that would sell to a
publisher or if you're better off doing it yourself.
3.) Research, research, research: printing companies, distribution,
price, the whole bit.
4.) Agonize over how frustrating the whole process is.
5.) Get book printed exactly the way you want it. Congrats, you're
an author. Dance and frolic naked on front lawn accordingly.
6.) Lather, rinse, repeat.
How are you publicizing it?
I have my website (http://www.bobsassone.com),
which I make sure I plug at the end of every article I write for a website.
I have a monthly e-mail newsletter I send out as well. The internet
is becoming invaluable for publicizing and marketing your work. The odd
magazine-meets-book format will attract some attention. I'll try to get it
into some independent bookstores, and since it's very magazine-like, I'll be
able to get it into some other places that I probably couldn't if I had printed
a perfect bound book. Oh, and did I mention that I'm giving a free gift to
those who ordered the book before April 1?
What do you hope to achieve with this book?
Merv Griffin-like wealth and eventual world domination.
What do you foresee in the future of self-publishing
and e-books?
Self-publishing will always be here. It's been around for such a long time
and it's a great tradition in the publishing world. As for e-books,
they'll be a compliment to hard copy books. At least I hope so. You
usually have two camps: people that fear e-books and never want to use
them, and people who think e-books are the future because they are more
convenient, quicker to get, take up less space, etc. I don't think that
print books and magazines and newspapers are ever going to go away (jeez, that
would be a sad day). I see them existing together. I thought about
doing this book as an e-book, but I think it's too long. I don't think
people like reading 100 pages of text on a screen, even if they can download it
the same day. And I certainly don't want to ask anyone to spend the
money/time/paper to print my book out on their printer.
I love the idea of giving people the option of whether they get something as a
traditional print book on Amazon or at their local bookseller or as an e-book.
I think that's the real future of e-books.
What resources would you recommend for writers who
are considering self-publishing?
Chip Rowe's www.zinebook.com has a ton of
great information. The book "How To Publish and Promote Online"
is terrific too. Any of the Edwards books on self-publishing are worth
looking into as well. Also www.spannet.org
and www.spawn.org have a lot of info for self
and small publishers. What writers don't seem to understand is that even
if you get picked up by a major publisher, you're going to have to do a lot of
marketing yourself (unless you're Stephen King or J.K. Rowling), so
self-publishing might be better for you, especially for a first book.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Publishing is changing quite a bit, and I think that writers have to realize
that they have many options. Not just self-publishing, which has been
around for centuries, but also with publishing on the web, e-books, etc. It's
an interesting time to be a writer. But the one thing I urge all writers
to do: concentrate on the WRITING, not the publishing aspect or wealth or
getting an agent. You have to write what you want to write because who
knows what the trend or fad is going to be in 6 months or a year or 3 years when
you finally finish your book?
Learn to write well and write the stuff you want. The other stuff comes
later.
Visit Bob's website at www.bobsassone.com.
